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----- Original Message -----
From: Dennis
To: phaedrus
Sent: Wednesday, January 01, 2003 3:38 PM
Subject: black forest ham
Hi. searched the past archives and could not find a recipie
for making black forest ham. I have a smoker but do not know
the basic spices. This is the kind of ham you will find in
Germany and Bavaria served for breakfast. thank you.
dennis
Hello Dennis,
I could not locate a specific recipe for Black Forest Ham. This ham is made according to traditional German Black Forest farm techniques.
In Germany, it is smoked over pine and fir and is coated with beef blood to give it a black outside surface. It's a typical dry cured ham
that's rubbed with sea salt and spices and then hung up and smoked & dry cured.
The Witrose company says of its own Black Forest Ham that:
"Subtle hints are introduced by rubbing the surface of the ham with elderberry, juniper, garlic and coriander.
It's then then smoked over beechwood chippings to give a balanced flavour and matured for almost a year.
The firm slices are pinky red with a smoky brown edge."
There's a lot of information about dry curing & smoking hams here:
The Meat Smoking and Curing FAQ
Wish I could help more, but that's about it.
Phaed
----- Original Message -----
From: Barbara
To: phaedrus@hungrybrowser.com
Sent: Wednesday, January 01, 2003 5:54 AM
Subject: reaching temperatures
Dear Uncle Phaedrus,
I have been attempting go make pumpkin fudge and had no trouble
finding a recipe. Five times I have tried and failed. Each
time I get the mixture up to 228 degrees, where 235 is required,
my mixture begins to burn. I am using a steel pot with a copper
bottom. If I stir constantly then the temp will never get high
enough. If I let the bottom burn then it changes the taste of the
fudge and ruins my cookware. I would like to know how to prevent
burning? If you don't answer this type of question, then who does?
Thank you.
Barbara
Hello Barbara,
Can you send me a word-for-word copy of the recipe you're using?
Phaed
----- Original Message -----
From: Barbara
To: phaedrus
Sent: Wednesday, January 01, 2003 6:46 AM
Subject: Re: reaching temperatures
Although I have used several recipes and am developing my own
variations, this one is pretty basic to what I have been doing,
and failed for me.
Ps What is filled milk and what do you use it for?
Thank You
Barbara
Title: Pumpkin Fudge
Categories: Candies, Holiday
Yield: 1 servings
2 c Sugar
3 tbl Corn Syrup
1/3 c Mashed pumpkin
1/4 tsp Cornstarch
1/4 tsp Pumpkin pie spice
1/2 c Half and Half
1/2 tsp Vanilla
1/4 c Butter
Cook together sugar, pumpkin, cornstarch, spice and milk
until it forms a soft ball when dropped in cold water,
or until mixture reaches 235F on a candy thermometer.
Add vanilla, butter and pecans. Beat until creamy. Pour
into a buttered plate and cut into small squares when
nearly cool.
Hi Barbara,
If you take whole milk and remove most of the butterfat - which is in the cream - then you have skim milk.
Skim milk is better for your health than whole milk because butterfat contains saturated fats, which are the
bad kind of fats that make cholesterol and can cause heart disease. However, not all fat is bad, and your
body must have some fat for health and survival. We must get some of our calories from fat. Vegetable oil is
unsaturated fat, which is the good kind of fat. Not only is it good food, but it helps rid your blood of
cholesterol and bad fats. So, someone came up with the idea of putting vegetable oil in skim milk - take out
the bad fat and put in some good fat. That's what "filled milk" is. I don't know how it tastes, but it sounds
like a good idea to me. You can have rich desserts without the bad fats!
Now, on the the pumpkin fudge. Take a look at the pumpkin fudge recipe below. Your recipe just says "cook together
until mixture reaches 235°". Mine says "bring to boil over high heat stirring constantly. Reduce heat to medium
and continue boiling. But do not stir. When mixture registers 232 degrees on candy thermometer (or forms a soft ball
when dropped into cold water), remove pan from heat.
See the difference? If you leave the heat on high after the mixture starts boiling, then it will heat too fast and burn.
It takes longer for it to reach 232° or 235° on medium, but that's the way you have to do it.
Hope this helps.
Phaed
Pumpkin Fudge
Ingredients :
3 c. sugar
1 c. milk
3 tbsp. light corn syrup
1/2 c. mashed cooked pumpkin
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. chopped nuts, optional
Preparation :
In 3 quart saucepan, mix together sugar, milk, corn syrup, pumpkin
and salt; bring to boil over high heat stirring constantly. Reduce
heat to medium and continue boiling. But do not stir. When mixture
registers 232 degrees on candy thermometer (or forms a soft ball
when dropped into cold water), remove pan from heat. Stir in
pumpkin pie spice, vanilla, butter and nuts. Cool to lukewarm (110
degrees on candy thermometer). Then beat mixture until very thick
and it loses some of its gloss. Quickly pour into greased 8 inch
pan. When firm, cut into about 36 squares.
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----- Original Message -----
From: Barbara
To: phaedrus
Sent: Wednesday, January 01, 2003 7:54 AM
Subject: Re: reaching temperatures
Yes, I used your recipe too. This one is too firm, very dry, if
I remember correctly.
Problem is that it has been on the stove for up to an hour and has
never reached the correct temp without my increasing the fire, then
it burns. I have tried every variation I can think of, stirring,
not stirring, I cannot reach 234 or 232 without the burn.
Could it be possible I need different cookware?
Thanks for the info on filled milk, can it be used interchangeably
for real milk in anything?
Hello Barbara,
Yes, filled milk can be used to replace regular milk:
Regular Filled milk for regular milk; Evaporated filled milk for evaporated milk; condensed filled milk for condensed milk - like that.
Now to the fudge....
The consensus is that it shouldn't matter if you use a copper bottom pot as long as the heating is done slowly.
The next theory is that your candy thermometer is reading incorrectly, reading too low. Are you double-checking it to
see if the mixture has already reached soft ball stage when the thermometer is reading 228° or 230°? You do this by
dripping a drop of the mixture into a glass of very cold water(no ice cubes, they get in the way) as you watch.
"Soft ball" means that it forms a soft ball that flattens from it's own weight. If it makes a firm ball or a hard ball,
then it's already too hot.
Phaed
----- Original Message -----
From: Bob
To: phaedrus
Sent: Tuesday, December 31, 2002 4:44 PM
Subject: cleaning of iron skillets
Hi, I found your answer to the question of seasoning an iron skillet,
but it said it should be clean and free of rust and crust before
seasoning. We inherited 3 old iron skillets and indeed they are rusty
and crusty. Can help us with some cleaning hints?
Thanks, Bob
Hi Bob,
Sure:
Caked on grease & crud can be removed by:
a) Spray the pans with oven cleaner and put them in individual plastic bags. The plastic bag retards the evaporation
of the oven cleaner so it will work longer. After 24 to 48 hours, take them out and scrub them with a brass brush of the
type used to clean whitewall tires.(it doesn't have to be that kind, but it's just the right size.) If the grease doesn't
loosen up, repeat, concentrating the oven cleaner on the worst spots.
or
b) Soak the skillets in a solution of 1 1/2 gallons of water to 1 can of lye. Use a plastic container. Be sure the skillets
are covered with the solution. Let them soak for 5 days, then remove them and scrub with the same kind of brass brush.
Rust can be removed by:
a) Removing mild rust should be done carefully with a fine wire wheel on an electric drill if you want them to look really good.
If looks are not that important, you can use steel wool and sandpaper. The drill's much easier.
b) Really crusted rust can be melted away by soaking the skillets in a 50% solution of white vinegar and water for a few hours,
but check them after a few hours and don't leave them in it longer than overnight. This stuff will eventually dissolve the iron, too.
After they're good and clean, proceed with seasoning as usual.
Phaed
----- Original Message -----
From: Clyde
To: phaedrus
Sent: Wednesday, January 01, 2003 10:10 AM
Subject: pound cake that falls
I make a pound cake exactly as the recipe states yet it falls why?
Clyde
Hello Clyde,
The possibilities that come to mind are:
1) Checking the cake too soon - never open the oven door in the first 15 minutes.
2) The eggs were overbeaten. Overbeaten eggs or egg whites can cause a cake to fall.
3) Sudden noise or temperature change. Even when the cake has cooked the full time, never get in a hurry to take it out.
Opening the oven door suddenly and quickly removing the cake can cause it to fall due to the sudden change in temperature.
Slamming the oven door or another loud noise can also make it fall.
Phaed
----- Original Message -----
From: Luise
To: phaedrus
Sent: Wednesday, January 01, 2003 7:03 PM
What a great website!!!
Many years ago there was a bakery called Irene's Bakery located
in Oklahoma City, OK on Pennsylvania Avenue around 23rd Street.
The bakery was purchased and the name changed to Ingrid's. Since
the new owner did not and does not make the same cheesecakes that
Irene's used to make I am assuming that they did not purchase the
receipe along with the bakery.
Irene's cheese cake was the absolute heaven in the round - a cake
which was very lofty, rising to approximately 8-10", had very little
crust (almost like a sprinkling on the sides of the cake, was not
very sweet and its texture reminded me of a cross between cheese
cake and angel's food cake. If you or anyone could run this receipe
down for me I would be so grateful!
I will be checking your website often to see it I can be of assistance
to someone else.
Sincerely,
Luise
Hello Luise,
Glad you like the site.
I did a search, but I could not locate any information about or recipes from the Irene's bakery of which you speak.
However, in a recipe database, I did find the below recipe called "Irene's Cheesecake", so I thought I'd send it on.
Thanks for writing.
Phaed
Irene's Cheesecake
Ingredients :
1 c. graham cracker crumbs
3 tbsp. sugar
3 tbsp. butter, melted
3 (8 oz.) pkgs. cream cheese
3/4 c. sugar
2 tbsp. flour
3 eggs, room temp.
2 tbsp. milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Preparation :
Combine first 3 ingredients and press into bottom of a springform
pan. Bake crust 10 minutes in a 325 degree oven. Remove and cool.
Turn oven up to 450 degrees. In a large bowl, mix the 3 packages of
softened cream cheese until smooth. Add 3/4 cup sugar and mix until
well blended. Add 2 tablespoons flour and stir. Add eggs, one at a
time, mixing well. Now continue to beat using low speed on electric
mixer. While mixing, add 2 tablespoons milk and 1 teaspoon vanilla.
Pour mixture evenly over cooled graham cracker crust. Bake in 450
degree oven for 10 minutes. Lower oven to 250 degrees and bake 45
minutes. Remove pan from oven and loosen cheese cake from sides
with a knife. Cool completely before removing sides of springform
pan. Top with fruit if desired.
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